Analyst Upgrades

• Procter & Gamble (PG) upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Capital One (COF) upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Airgas (ARG) upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Broadcom (BRCM) upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• DryShips (DRYS) upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AVB, BRCM, COF, DRYS, IFF, LULU, NSM, OII, OSG, PG ...

Analyst Calls: AVB, BRCM, COF, DRYS, IFF, LULU, NSM, OII, OSG, PG ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) will take its turn in the earnings confessional bright and early tomorrow morning, Dec. 9. Analysts are expecting the athletic apparel firm to report a third-quarter profit of 25 cents per share, up from 20 cents per share in the year-ago period. LULU has an impressive track record in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus profit expectations in each of the past four quarters.

The stock has also established itself as a technical outperformer, with LULU rising 82.5% so far in 2010. This impressive ascent has been underlined by reliable support at the stock's 10-week, 20-week, and 50-week moving averages, which have guided LULU higher since July 2009.

Continue reading Can Lululemon Athletica Top Earnings Estimates Again?

Can Lululemon Athletica Top Earnings Estimates Again? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The shares of Lululemon Athletica (LULU) gapped higher right out of the gate this morning, as Wall Street cheered the athletic apparel company's latest earnings report. Lululemon raked in a second-quarter profit of $21.8 million, or 30 cents per share -- more than doubling its year-ago results of $9.2 million, or 13 cents per share. Revenue for the period climbed 56% to $152.2 million.

The results handily surpassed consensus expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had been anticipating a slimmer second-quarter profit of 24 cents per share on $146 million in revenue.

Continue reading Lululemon Athletica Soars After Strong Q2 Report

Lululemon Athletica Soars After Strong Q2 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ: LULU - option chain) shares rose Thursday after the company reported a second-quarter profit of $9.24 million, or 13 cents per share, on revenue of $97.72 million. Analysts had forecast a profit of 10 cents per share on revenue of $88.20 million. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on LULU.

LULU opened Thursday at $22.49. So far the stock has hit a low of $21.97 and a high of $23.00. As of 11:25, LULU is trading at $22.28 up 0.67 (3.1%). The chart for LULU looks bullish.

Continue reading lululemon athletica (LULU) Q2 earnings beat estimates

lululemon athletica (LULU) Q2 earnings beat estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Two days before its second-quarter earnings report, lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was hit this morning with a steep price-target cut. RBC slashed its price target on LULU from $47 to $30, noting "a 200 basis-point increase in our cost of equity assumption." The analysts tempered their bearish note by reiterating an Outperform rating on the shares.

The brokerage firm's downwardly revised target represents a 64% premium to the stock's closing price Monday. By contrast, the average 12-month price target on LULU is $39.72, according to Thomson Financial. This consensus estimate is 117% higher than yesterday's close, which seems to indicate that further price-target cuts could be in the offing, particularly if second-quarter earnings fail to impress.

During the past four quarters, First Call reports that lululemon has met or exceeded analysts' per-share profit expectations every time. However, it's safe to say that nobody on Wall Street was particularly impressed by LULU's last quarterly earnings report. Since the company announced inline earnings of 12 cents per share on June 2, its shares have shed 43% of their value. Even more compelling, institutional investors have reduced their stake in LULU by a net total of 5% since last quarter.

Continue reading lululemon smacked with price-target cut ahead of earnings

lululemon smacked with price-target cut ahead of earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"While this has been an ugly period for equities, we believe an above-average risk/reward opportunity presently exists for the small-cap growth market," says Jim Oberweis, Jr., monoey manager and editor of The Oberweis Report.

He adds, "P/E valuations of our universe of high growth companies are now substantially below average. Most important, our research indicates that such periods are also opportune times to buy." Here, he offers a pair of retail ideas -- Guess? (NYSE: GES) and Lululemon athletica (NASDAQ: LULU).

"While it can be difficult to seize such an opportunity in the face of overwhelming pessimism, those who unemotionally understand the math of historical valuations should reap the rewards of seeing opportunity in the current difficulty.

"In each case, uncertainty at the time led to a large market decline that resulted in stock valuations substantially below historical averages. In virtually every period in which average P/E's for high growth stocks have dropped sharply below the mean, the economic outlook was bleak. It is exactly that pessimism and uncertainty that causes investors to relentlessly sell, creating cheap valuations.

Continue reading Small cap retail values: Guess (GES) and Lululemon (LULU)

Small cap retail values: Guess (GES) and Lululemon (LULU) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the New York Times, "Kmart said yesterday that it would remove all jewelry advertised as 'lead free' from its shelves after workers at lead monitoring programs who tested the pieces found that some actually contained high concentrations of the metal."

One charm labeled lead-free was 52% lead. What is interesting here is that it raises questions about how much responsibility companies have about products that they source from third-party manufacturers.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) ended up embroiled in a minor scandal after a New York Times piece found that products the company was selling (the material in question was manufactured by a third party) -- labeled as containing seaweed -- actually contained no seaweed. While it sent the stock down as much as 9%, the share price ended up closing higher on the day of the story. Lululemon has since put out a press release refuting the New York Times claim, saying that its products actually do contain what they say they contain.

The legal issues could be murky. But these companies know that consumers aren't going to want to shop at stores in which products are labeled in a misleading way, and so they're taking steps to evaluate manufacturers' claims -- before the New York Times does.

Kmart pulls lead-free items that contain lead originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The New York Times reports that a short-seller of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) shares suggested that it test its clothes for seaweed content. The result -- 0% -- proved profitable for the short-seller. Lululemon Athletica shares have lost 10% of their value in premarket trading.

Why would the seaweed content of Lululemon Athletica's products affect the value of its stock? Because Lululemon claims that its clothes are 24% seaweed fiber. On being found out, Lululemon CEO Dennis -- call me Chip -- Wilson's comment was priceless: "If you actually put it on and wear it, it is different from cotton. That's my only test of it."

Continue reading Is it too late to short seaweed-free clothing vendor Lululemon Athletica?

Is it too late to short seaweed-free clothing vendor Lululemon Athletica? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Due to accelerating losses at its American consumer-lending unit, HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) said it would take $3.4B in charges during its Q3, the Wall Street Journal reported. Despite the charges, the company said its Q3 operating income was up compared with the prior year due to revenue growth in the group.
• NYSE Euronext Inc (NYSE: NYX) CEO John Thain is not on the first short list of candidates being considered for the Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) CEO position, according to an inside source, the Financial Times reported.

• Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ: LULU), a standout performer on Wall Street, is reportedly under fire for potentially false claims of its VitaSea clothing line, which the company says is made from seaweed fiber supplied by SeaCell. According to lab tests, the New York Times reported there was no significant difference in the mineral levels between regular cotton T-shirts and Lululemon's VitaSea fabric.

Newspaper wrap-up: HSBC to take $3.4B in charges during Q3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.